1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a female connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been proposed a sheet connector comprised of a male connector and a female connector (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2012-89244).
As shown in FIG. 26, the male connector includes a base film 9115, a conductor pattern 9151, a cover film 9117, and a frame reinforcement layer 9116. The conductor pattern 9151 is comprised of a pair of wide traces 9151A, and a large number of narrow traces 9151B. Each wide trace 9151A and each narrow trace 9151B have a reception terminal 9153, which is a plate-shaped terminal, as a female terminal.
The reception terminal 9153 is fitted on a protruding terminal, not shown, of the male connector to attain electrical conduction. The narrow traces 9151B are arranged along a left-right direction LR. The wide traces 9151A are arranged on opposite sides of a row of the narrow traces 9151B.
As shown in FIG. 27, the reception terminal 9153 includes an upper end portion 9153E1, a pair of upper base portions 9153A1 connected to the upper end portion 9153E1, a pair of upper arm portions 9153D1 connected to the pair of upper base portions 9153A1, a pair of contact portions 9153C connected to the pair of upper arm portions 9153D1, a pair of lower arm portions 9153D2 connected to the pair of contact portions 9153C, a lower base portion 9153A2 connected to the pair of lower arm portions 9153D2, and a lower end portion 9153E2 connected to the lower base portion 9153A2. An inner opening 9154A for receiving the protruding terminal of the male connector is formed between the pair of upper arm portions 9153D1.
Next, a description will be given of a procedure for fitting the male connector into the female connector.
First, the male connector and the female connector are set opposed to each other, and then the male connector is placed on the female connector. At this time, the protruding terminal of the male connector is inserted into the inner opening 9154A of the reception terminal 9153.
After that, the male connector is relatively slid with respect to the female connector along a front-rear direction FR. As a consequence, the protruding terminal of the male connector is moved in between the pair of contact portions 9153C of the reception terminal 9153. At this time, the returning forces of the pair of upper arm portions 9153D1 of the reception terminal 9153 are generated, whereby the protruding terminal of the male connector is held between the pair of contact portions 9153C of the reception terminal 9153.
Thus, the male connector is fitted into the female connector, whereby the connectors are electrically connected.
In the conventional sheet connector, a structure is employed in which when the male connector is fitted into the female connector, the protruding terminal of the male connector is inserted into a large space (inner opening 9154A) formed between the pair of upper arm portions 9153D1 of the reception terminal 9153, and is moved in between the pair of contact portions 9153C. A front end portion of the protruding terminal of the male connector is thicker than an intermediate portion of the protruding terminal, and a front end surface of the protruding terminal is a large pentagonal plane (see FIG. 1 and FIGS. 4 to 6 in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2012-89244). The inner opening 9154A of the reception terminal 9153 can smoothly receive the front end portion of the protruding terminal, and has an opening area large enough to allow the protruding terminal to move therein (see FIG. 27).
Since the reception terminal 9153 of each narrow trace 9151B is large as described above, the conventional sheet connector suffers from the problem that the female connector is increased in size.